News 11:00

BULLETIN 2 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA wants an urgent review of the settlement between Nersa and Eskom
# Over 14-thousand suspects were arrested in nationwide operations
# And rugby: Rassie Erasmus will only name his squad for the All Blacks clash on Thursday

# The DA says it has asked the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on Electricity and Energy, Queenie Mvana, for an urgent review of the settlement agreement between Eskom and energy regulator Nersa. Nersa has reached a 54-billion-rand out-of-court settlement with the power utility over tariff calculation errors. The DA’s Kevin Mileham says this incident highlights the pressing need for government to finalise and implement a modernised National Electricity Pricing Policy:

# Suspended deputy national police commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya, has submitted a supplementary affidavit to the High Court in Pretoria to bolster his reinstatement case. This follows the decision to return 121 dockets to the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team. Commissioner Fannie Masemola suspended Sibiya for disobeying his instructions on the disbandment of the task team. In the supplementary affidavit, Sibiya contends that Masemola’s decision to return the dockets is premature and constitutes interference with the Madlanga commission’s work.

# Nationwide Shanela operations resulted in the arrest of 14-thousand-773 suspects in the past week. Among those are three-thousand-and-51 wanted individuals who were traced in different parts of the country. These suspects are wanted in cases that include murder, rape, and assault with intend to cause grievous bodily harm. A total of 119 murder suspects were arrested, with the majority apprehended in Gauteng and the Western Cape. Police spokesperson, Amanda van Wyk, says 163 unlicensed firearms were also seized:

Moving abroad:

# The head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, has warned that if president Donald Trump were to undermine the independence of the US Federal Reserve, it would represent a very serious danger to the global economy. The Fed’s main job is to promote employment, keep prices stable, and set interest rate policy. Trump has repeatedly made it clear he wants big cuts in interest rates to boost economic growth and lower his government’s borrowing costs. A cut is expected later this month but is unlikely to be large enough to please Trump.

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is only expected to name his squad for Saturday’s Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks in Auckland on Thursday. He is still waiting on news on injured captain Siya Kolisi and veteran Willie le Roux, while experienced scrumhalf Faf de Klerk was called up to New Zealand after hooker Bongi Mbonambi opted to stay at home to attend to family matters. Erasmus says they are not quite sure what the All Blacks will put out:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-60-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 110-thousand-323-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-485-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….